Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting the Central government to award the Bharat Ratna to the entire medical fraternity in honour of their service during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Kejriwal said that awarding the Bharat Ratna to doctors and paramedics as a community will recognise the sacrifice of all the doctors and paramedic staff who have lost their lives on duty and pay homage to the departed souls.
“I want to request the Central government to award this year’s Bharat Ratna to “Indian Doctor”. By “Indian Doctor”, I mean the entire medical community — all doctors, nurses and paramedics should be given the award, collectively. This is the greatest manner in which we can pay our respect and homage to all those who martyred while serving the nation on COVID duties,” Mr. Kejriwal said in his letter.
The CM said that the medical community stepped up to serve our nation during the COVID-19 crisis and that he personally knew a lot of doctors who could not be home for months because of their duties.
“Without thinking twice about their families and children, they relentlessly served the country, putting their own lives at stake. They were not getting any special benefits, extra payments or promotions, they weren’t getting anything in exchange. Yet, they all did their best because of their love for humanity. We salute all these brave doctors, nurses and paramedics,” Mr. Kejriwal said.
Bharat Ratna is the highest civilian award of the country. It is awarded in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavour. The recommendations for Bharat Ratna are made by the Prime Minister to the President of India. The number of Bharat Ratna awards is restricted to a maximum of three in a particular year.
